What the Senses Are in General and What They
Resemble

With the help of God, I have
to the extent of my ability commented briefly on each of the senses and
indicated the harm that they can bring to the soul when they are abused.
You need all of your strength to control these senses from passionate
desires and to protect yourself from any evil form that they may bring
upon you. These senses after all, are, as we have noted, those very
doors and windows through which either life or death may enter. Life
enters when they are gov­erned well and do not partake of their usual
passions. Death enters when they partake of “corpses” as do the
birds of prey; when they taste the dust of the earth as do the serpents;
when they eat rotted food as do the flies. Or to put it in another way,
when they partake of those sinful and death-bearing passions, which are
harmful to the soul. This is why the prophet Jeremiah alluded to these
senses when he said: “For death has come up into our windows, it has
entered our palaces” (Jer 9:21). St. Gregory of Nyssa, interpreting
this reference, explained that “the windows” through which death
enters “our palace” are indeed the senses.[i]
Make every effort then to purify your soul from the impurities which the
senses bring within from the outside. These senses may be likened to
mountain torrents, which as soon as they swell up with the force of
abundant water from the winter rains drag downhill with them everything
that happens to be in their way-rocks, logs, mud, and other debris.[ii]
The senses too, when allowed free reign by the control­ling mind, are
driven out with great force toward the physical things of life and thus
draw with themselves every indecent vision, every shame­ful word, every
evil sound, and generally every dirt and impurity of the passions.
Afterward, when they return they bring back all these things into the
troubled soul, causing it to be darkened, to be full of so many shameful
images and so many conflicting sounds that, generally speaking, it is
overwhelmed by the passions that make it into a den of thieves and a
harbor of impurities. It was perhaps at a time when the prophet David
was troubled by such torrents of the senses that he shouted to God in
spiritual anguish: “The pangs of death surrounded me, and the torrents
of iniquity sorely troubled me.” (Ps 17:4).

Why One Must
Struggle to Control One's Senses

According
to St. Gregory the Theologian we must struggle to block our senses and
to control them, for they are the easy ways toward evil and entrances of
sin. Let us not give in to the easy ways of evil and to the easy
entrances of sin. I say to you then, put all your strength forward to
protect your senses. I also say to you to be attentive, to struggle, and
I insist on this, by using various synonymous words. I wish to prove to
you that the devil is always standing before us, observing and studying
the condition of our senses. Just as soon as we open even one sense to
him, he enters into our soul directly and brings death to us, as St.
Isaac has noted: “The enemy is standing and observ­ing day and night
directly against our eyes to detect which entrance of our senses will be
opened to him to enter. Once he enters through one of our senses because
of our lack of vigilance, then this devious shame­less dog attacks us
further with his own arrows.”[iii] We must also strug­gle
to protect our senses because it is not only through curious eyes that
we fall into the sin of desire and commit fornication and adultery of
the heart, as the Lord noted. There is also the fornication and the
adultery of the sense of hearing, the sense of smell, the sense of
taste, the sense of touch, and of all the senses together. Therefore,
St. Greg­ory the Theologian has written in his heroic counsel to the
virgin: “Virgin, be truly a virgin in the ears, in the eyes and in the
tongue! Every sense that wanders with ease sins.” St. Gregory of Nyssa
also said: “The Lord has spoken, I believe, about all the senses, so
that following His words we can include that the one who hears
lustfully, the one who touches and the one who uses every inner power in
us to serve pleasure has actually committed the sin in his heart.”[iv]

Those
Who Live in the World Must Protect Their Senses More than Those Ascetics
in the Desert

You
who are in the world, dear friend, must guard yourself even more than
those who are in the desert. St. Basil wrote to someone living in the
world the following advice: “Do not relax your efforts because you are
in the world. In fact you are in need of greater efforts and more
vigilance to achieve salvation. After all you have chosen to live in the
midst of all the pitfalls and in the very stronghold of the sinful
powers. You have before you constantly the instigations of sins and day
and night all of your senses are being attacked by their evil
desires.”[v] If we are overcome by the
desire for food or drink, we do not experience such a strong attack.
Being in a desolate place where one does not see or hear anything out of
place or experience the other causes of sin, we are thus surrounded by a
protective wall that helps to win our battles without wars, as St. Isaac
said: “When one does not receive a sense perception, then he can have
a victory without a struggle.”[vi] In other words, the monks
who have removed themselves from the world are fighting behind trenches,
but you are fighting an arm-to-arm combat against the enemies. The
attacks are coming from all directions. And the causes of sin are all
around you. While they stand afar off from the precipice, you are at its
very edge. That great luminary of spiritual discretion, St. Poimen, once
said: “Those who live far away from the world are like those who are
far from a precipice and, whenever they are misled by the devil, before
they reach the edge, they call upon God Who comes to save them. Those
who live in the world, however, are like those who are near the
precipice and when the devil draws them toward it, they have no time to
call upon God and be saved but fall directly into the abyss.”[vii]
Therefore, because you are so close to this abyss, you are in immediate
danger just as soon as you neglect or open one of your senses. God
forbid! This is the reason why you want to use all your energy to
protect your senses from coming into contact with sin. As it is
impossible for a house not to be darkened by smoke entering from the
outside, it is similarly impossible for a man not to be harmed when he
is not careful to guard his senses, but rather opens them without
restraint, allowing all manner of passionate images to enter the soul.
The wise St. Syngletike said, “Even when we do not want it, the
thieves will enter through the senses. For how is it possible for a
house not be darkened by the smoke entering from outside through the
doors and windows that have been left opened?”

How Can We Interpret the
Aristotelian Axiom- “Nothing Is in the Mind That Has Not Previously
Entered the Senses.”

The
famous axiom of the philosopher Aristotle which says that “noth­ing
is in the mind that has not previously entered the sense” is indeed
legendary. Many have written many opinions in favor and against the
truth or falsehood of this axiom both in the past and now. In this case
the proverb is apropos that says: ‘Inexpressible things are expressed
and ineffable things are spoken’.”[viii]
In view of this divided opinion, I shall say briefly that the axiom is
false, if it refers to the virtues. Since the mind has been created by
God as naturally good, it has received innately its appropriate good­ness
from God. “And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was
very good” (Gen 2:31). “For everything created by God is good”
(1Tim 4:4), as the Apostle wrote. Granted that at infancy and early
childhood there is no other impression in man except perhaps the very
impression of having no other good idea in mind that has entered through
the senses and that the mind is simple, without forms and shapes and
like an unwritten sheet of paper (a “tabula rasa”). Still, we must
say that this simplicity which the mind has in itself is indeed one good
thing, the original and the most appropriate to its nature. God created
the mind to be pure and simple, as Scripture and the Fathers affirm.

The
mind was thus created pure and simple without predeter­mined shapes so
that its image may have similitude to its Creator Who is invisible.
“So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created
him” (Gen 1:27). This way the mind can be united with the divine
Archetype. Thus the whole struggle of secular and worldly philosophers
is to fashion their minds with different ideas and imagi­nary knowledge
of natural and human things. This is after all the whole power of
secular philosophy. On the contrary, the whole strug­gle and effort and
goal of virtuous and spiritual persons is how to erase from their minds
every shape and image and thought that has been impressed upon it and to
make it (again) simple and pure and unim­pressed by anything external,
so that through such simplicity it may be united with God and restored
to its original condition. This is the return about which the Lord
spoke: “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,
you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven” (Mt 18:3). Therefore the
wise St. Neilos said: “Blessed is the mind that acquires in the time
of prayer a complete absence of im­ages.”[ix]
St. Basil too said: “As God does not dwell in temples created by
hands, similarly He can not be contained by intellectual creations and
expressions.” St. Diadochos also said: “The blessed light of God
shines in the heart when the heart has been released from all and has
become free of all. In the deprivation of all thoughts, that divine
light is re­vealed to the pure mind.”[x]

Now if we are to talk
about the evil things that are in the mind, then I must say that
Aristotle's axiom is most true. Evil is, after all, unnatural and a
foreign element that has entered the nature of the mind, that was
created good. Evil has no other way to enter the mind except through the
senses from the outside. A ready proof and a trust­ful witness of this
saying is Adam himself, that simple man who was the first to be created
by the hand of God. Evil and the idea of sin entered into the mind of
Adam not from inner thoughts, but from external influences through the
senses, when the devil deceitfully ad­vised Eve to eat of the forbidden
fruit. This is confirmed by St. Macarios, who said about Adam the
following: “Adam was created pure by God to serve him. . . . However,
the devil approached him and spoke to him and it was from without
through the hearing that he was first received. It was after this that
the devil entered his heart and pervaded his entire being.”[xi]

In What Way Can One Guard the Senses from the
Passions?

What
should we conclude from this? That every idea of evil and every form of
passion enters the heart through the mediation and service of the
senses. And if the senses are not guarded, then the evil passions are
also not guarded. How can they be guarded and closed to such pas­sions?
Listen. The windows of the Temple of Solomon were covered with fine nets
to prevent the entry of impure insects (cf. Ezk 41:6). This may
serve as a reminder that he who does not want any impure pas­sions of
the senses to enter into his soul must drape his senses with [spiritual]
nets. What are these nets? It is the memory of death, for one; our
account before Christ on the day of judgment; the memory of eternal
suffering. Through these, man can put away the evil passions and sins,
when they come before his eyes and his other senses. St. Neilos has
confirmed that this is so: “Those who desire to keep their mind as a
clean and pure temple, where the doors and windows are covered with fine
nets to prevent the entry of any impure insects, must similarly cover
their senses by meditating on the sobering realities of the future judgment which prevent the entry of any
impure images to creep in.”[xii]

St.
Isidore Pelousiotes also has taught us how to guard the senses from evil
passions. He said that the mind of man must stand firm like a king and
emperor with awesome thoughts which are armed like sol­diers to guard
the entries of the senses and to prevent the enemies from entering. For,
if they do not enter, the war and the victory will be easy. But if, on
the contrary, they do enter then the war becomes difficult and the
victory uncertain.[xiii]
This is why you too, brother, can through these means guard and close
the windows of your senses, so that all the evil passions that are
commonly referred to as bodily and external can be readily overcome. But
are we to overcome only these bodily and external passions? No, we must
also overcome the inner passions of desire that are commonly called
inner and spiritual. These, too, will gradually be weakened and overcome
as the passions of the senses cease to enter and rule. This is why St.
Poimen used to say: “When a serpent is shut within a vessel and does
not receive any food, it will gradually die. So also with the inner
passions of our heart, if they are isolated and do not receive the evil
nourishment they need from the outside through the senses of the body,
they in time are weakened and eventually die.”[xiv]Again
the passions can be likened to certain tiny creatures found in the mud at the
bottom of a lake. As long as they do not have anything to eat they are
content to lie there in peace. But as soon as food is put into the
water, you can see them immediately moving and rising up from the depth
to get the food. In the same manner the passions remain peacefully
within the heart as long as they do not receive from the outside through
the senses any nourishment and pleasure. But as soon as such a pleasure
enters, espe­cially through the eyes, these passions move directly
toward the desir­able nourishment.

The Devil Dies
When He Does Not Receive the Pleasure of the Senses

Since
the devil has as nourishment the passions and pleasures of the senses,
he too will die as he is deprived of this nourishment. “The strong
lion perishes for lack of prey” (Job 4:11). St. Neilos has noted that
the devil is often referred to as an “ant-lion,” just as the
passions are. This means that at first these passions appear as
something very small, but later become great and strong like lions. Do
you see, dear brother, what great enemies you have to defeat? Do you see
that by cutting off the passions of the senses, you are also going to
put Satan to death? But alas this cutting off and this victory cannot be
won without a war. It is like the external wars, no one can win a
victory without first waging a war against the enemy. It is certain that
you have to experi­ence a great struggle in each of your senses both
from the point of view of habit and of the enemy. For the bad habit
desires to draw each sense toward its pleasurable object when it is
present. On the other hand, the enemy desires to wage a great battle in
the memory and imagination of the mind in order to achieve its consent
to enjoy that pleasure, so that, in doing so, the devil can also enjoy
the same pleasure. But you must stand courageously and never consent to
the will of the enemy. Say to yourself that iambic proverb of St.
Gregory the Theologian: “No one can excel by beginning from cowardice;
it is the victories that bring praise.”

An
ancient people recognized their children to be their genuine offspring
only after placing before them a viper and observing them catch it
courageously. You too, dear brother, must make the enemy realize that
you are a true child of Christ Who is your heavenly Father, and who has
overcome the passions and the devil-through the cour­age you
demonstrate in fighting against the evil passions of your senses. And if
the enemy stands to fight you, be not afraid to tell him what that brave
Spartan said to Xerxes: “Oh king, you managed to sail the sea and to
cut a channel across the peninsula of Athos, but you will not pass the
side of one armed Spartan.” For this reason then show the enemy that
you are not a slave of your senses, but lord and king. Show that you are
not only flesh and blood, but a rational mind, appointed by God to be
leader and sole ruler over the irrational passions of the body. Say to
yourself that wise proverb about evil habits: “The best learning for
man is to unlearn evil.” Now, if I have learned, wrongly, to give to
my senses their sensual objects, and this wrong learning has brought
about a bad habit, and this bad habit a still further bad condi­tion,
why can I not now learn to do the opposite? Let, therefore, the good
learning become a good habit and the good habit a good and permanent
condition. If, in doing this, I am to experience difficulties and
bitterness at first, let me experience them. Afterward I will be able to
experience both ease and joy. The first efforts to learn and practice
the virtues and establish the habit of virtuous living are often very
bitter and most difficult for the senses. The activity that follows
after these initial efforts to acquire the habit of virtuous living is
very easy, ineffably sweet, and enjoyable.

Briefly we can say that
angels are invisibly present, holding crowns in their hands. Christ
himself is the one Who will crown you every time you are victorious in
the battle against the evil passions of the senses and you do not
succumb to them. St. Basil said: “Suffering brings glory, and
tribulation brings crowns.” But you have been beaten once or twice (I
hope not!). Be not completely overcome. Stand firm and courageous,
calling upon God for help. If you do so, the grace of God will come
directly to your help and will not leave you to be completely overcome
by the enemy. Do you want to be sure of this? Follow me and let us
travel to Sodom. Have you come? Behold the five kings of Sodom mentioned
in Holy Scripture (Gen 14), who were then under the hegemony of the
Assyrian king Chedorlaomer and who were paying tribute to him and to the
other kings with him for ten years. In the thirteenth year they rebelled
and did not want to pay the tribute to the Assyrian king, who then
declared war on them. It appeared soon afterward that the five kings
were subdued and captured by the Assyri­ans. What happened next? When
Abram heard about this, he ran to their aid; he fought, he won, and he
liberated them for the sake of his nephew Lot.

What Is the Symbolic Meaning of the War at Sodom
for the Senses?

The
war at Sodom can be seen as an allegory on the five senses. The five
kings are the five senses who up to the twelfth year of childhood enjoy
the bodily pleasures and, in a sense, pay tribute to the Assyrian devil
and to his three associate kings, who are the three initial and
universal passions of forgetfulness, ignorance, and laziness. As soon as
the mind begins to have discretion between good and evil and to under­stand
the harm one suffers, then the five senses are checked by the mind and
they no longer want to pay tribute to the enemy. That is, they do not
want to give free reign to the passionate pleasure. This is why the
enemy renews his attack, seeking to incite the senses to their usual
pleasures, and overcomes them. Jesus, a descendent of Abraham, when
called upon to help, hears and responds. He strengthens the mind through
His Grace and liberates the senses from being completely overrun by the
enemy. Here is how St. Neilos explained this story:

From
this story we learn about ourselves and the war that is going on with
our senses and sensible things. Each one of us from our birth to our
twelfth year of age, not yet having the ability of rational discretion,
allow the senses to be impressed indiscriminately by everything
sensible. . . . During this time there is no intellectual power, because
of the infancy, that would seek to guard any of the senses. When our
intel­lect is made stronger and begins to understand how we are harmed,
we seek to rebel and avoid such slavery. If one finds himself becoming
stronger intellectually and spiritually, he will be confirmed in this
realization and will remain free in all things, having escaped all
bitter tyrants. But if one finds himself wanting in judgment, he will
again betray his senses to captivity, being overcome by the power of the
material things.[xv]

It Is a Great
Victory to Overcome Ourselves

Do
not think for a moment that this victory is small and insignificant. In
fact it is a greater victory to overcome one of your passions and a
pleasure of your senses than to overcome one hundred of your ene­mies.
It is a more glorious trophy of victory to shed willingly a few drops of
perspiration and one drop of blood, for the love of God, in order to
overcome one of your evil wills and to spite the devil, than to shed
rivers of blood to subdue entire armies. Again it is a greater triumph
to subdue your senses and your entire body to your hege­monious mind
than to subdue large kingdoms. Once, when King Alex­ander was praised
for having conquered the whole ecumene, he re­sponded with the prudent
remark: “All of my victories will prove to be vain, if I do not
succeed to conquer myself.” Many who have subdued their enemies,
cities, and countries have later been subdued miserably by their own
improper passions and have shamefully become slaves of their own
passions. A certain Father was very correct when he said that “the
first victory is the victory of self.” St. Isidore Pelousiotes also
said: The true victor is not he who subdues the foreign barbarians, but
he who wages spiritual warfare against the evil passions. Many who have
conquered barbarians have in turn been shamefully subdued by their own
passions.”[xvi]

It
Is Most Important to Be Victorious in Spiritual Warfare

If
you stand courageously to fight the unseen warfare against your senses
and the enemy and in fighting you win, know that the angels will assist
you and will crown you victor. St. Isidore has informed you of this.
“Angels will assist you after the battle and will crown you with victory.”[xvii]If
you should lose heart and fall in this battle and appear to be defeated,
God forbid, you will not only be the object of malignant joy to the
enemy, not only will you cause sadness and shame to Christ for being
deprived of heavenly crowns, but even according to human standards, you
will become an insignificant person. . . . The ancient Greeks had a law
that required a soldier to be without name and fame as long as his
weapons did not bear the sign of a victor and his spear the bloodstain
of his enemies. But he who would lose his weapons was the most dejected
of men. Therefore the Spartans exiled their own poet Archilohos because
he simply wrote in his poems a verse which said: “It is better to be
deprived of weapon than life.”

St.
Nicodemos of the Holy Mountain - A Handbook of Spiritual Council –
Chapter 8; Guarding All the Senses in General pp. 136-145 (“The
Classics of Western Spirituality” series.)